Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1887-10-10
The Educated Farmer.

In farming perhaps more than In
any other branch of business, facts and
knowledge of the process can be OBJ
tanned largely by reading the expert
ments of others as published in agri-
cultural books and papers, writes
Joseph Allen. of Gano, Ohio. in The
Practical Farmer. He says: No farmer
can afford to make all the experiments
necessary to learn the best methods OF
cultivating his lands and improving
his soil, what it cost to feed bushel
of corn or other grain and what it costs
to feed different kinds of stock. IL this
should be attempted. he could make
but slow progress; each one would Do
| obliged to go through the same un-
varying process or routine.
But the farmer to be successful must
have correct knowledge scientlnc
knowledge. Some farmers may call ~
humbug, but scientific knowledge is
correct knowledge. Scientific observa-
ton, and scientific farming is farming
upon correct principles.
There are principles underlying every
branch of agriculture, which. II
thoroughly understood and then applied
with intelligence will. in the long run.
bring success to any young man who
will make farming his lifework-
There never was time when so
much was being done in the interest OF
intelligent agriculture as now-never u
time when so many scientific ncn Wese
engaged in experiments bearing epsn
the different branches Of the suh9odA
and In no department of scieASs heae
such beneficial results been obtained
Education is as absolutely nscessstY
tn make a successful farmer N It 10 IN
any of the professions, mercantile az
any other calling, and when tho mind
il disciplined by study and trained by
proper teachers, success Is more certain
In farming than in any other business.
II seems strange and incOncelvabe
that any one who has ever cultivated
farm products should not feel the abso-
Lutte necessity of an education in order
to fully comprehend the principles IL
yolyed In the work of agriculture.
Educated farmers have improved
their soil by undertaking where IL
was too wet, and they have proved the
theory of rotation of crops as the natur-
| al means of keeping up the fertility oi
the soil; they have had plants analyzeh
. TO learn what must be added to the
, soil to make it produce to the best
: advantage the crops they wished to
I raise. and then by adding the necessary
fertilizers they have made it produce
> almost double the amount that 1t does
: for the uneducated.
Educated fruit growers have given
us all the superior varieties OF fruits.
|; and the educated stock raiser has add
I ed to the heetness, the strength and
J the gaits of horses. He has enlarged
and improved the quality OF the ami
Il mails raised for food, and makes then
fatten at an earlier date, quicker ant
l. cheaper. He has increased the quantl
Is ty and quality of milk from cows. I'll
= the production of butter and chees II
% the State of New York alone, rs sta
!. tistics show, amounts to over 500. OOO.
u 600 annually, more than one-fourtn 9
70 the whole cotton crop of the country
$. Farmers must understand that q
Is make their children successful IN tnel
10 calling does not require create
L amount of hard work, but more cor
Is rect knowledge of facts and principle
le upon which their business should ,
5, conducted in order to make farmin
u successful.
p The land often fails to produce goo
no crops. not because the laborers hay
been awkward in their work of plowir
ly and cultivatng their crops. but b
lg cause the farmer does not fully unde
in stand the relation of his soil to q
ar crops he raises. Continued daily lab
at on the farm without an educat
he iudment directing the application
in, principles may make good living
he It will not produce the best results;
1T will not make the land yield all that
1t Is capable of yielding.
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